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Gregers Ekdal
Biography Captain Gregers Ekdal (prounounced 'Growgers') was a Human naval officer who was the commanding officer of a ship called the UNSC Ontario. Ekdal was born in the Norwegian city of Trondheim and had a soft spot for his heritage. As a boy, he kept model boats, planes, and starships in his room su spended from ceiling and tossed them around with tiny anti-grav units. At the age of 18, Ekdal left Trondheim to study abroad in London. Here he picked up English and began to see that perhaps his calling was not on Earth after all. This was also where he decided that he would never lose his trademark accent no matter how hard people tried to get rid of it. Ekdal began as a deck hand aboard an interplanetary freighter. Here he learned the basics of commanding a ship and how to order crew around. The first time people, Gregers included, realized he was a cut above the rest was when the ship was struck by a small flock of rogue meteorites. The impact killed the Captain of the ship, forcing Ekdal to take command. While the crew panicked, Ekdal was able to guide the ship to a shipyard over Mars. One of the crewmen called him 'Captain Ekdal' which made his heart swell with pride. Upon hearing the story, military recruiters offered him the chance to go straight to Officer Candidate School as he had prior experience as a ship captain. Without hesitating, Ekdal said yes. Behind the Scenes Gregers Ekdal gets his name from the Norwegian play The Wild Duck by combining two of the characters' names - Gregers Werle, and Hjalmar Ekdal. This was a play I had to read for a university class and I found the names appealing. When coming up for a character to feature in the Journals of Sally Acorn, I immediately wanted a Norwegian captain as a sort of nod to the play, though Ekdal itself is a Swedish surname generally speaking, though a person can get around in Scandinavia. Funny enough, I remember very little about the play. Ekdal's ancestors were most likely Swedish that moved some time in the past to Norway. This may also be stereotypical, but I've always thought of Norwegians as being sailors even into the distant past when Vikings roamed the land, so I suppose Ekdal's character sort of calls back to that historical past. Also, I immediately wanted Ekdal to be featured again in a story since I liked his character so much. The constant smiling and upbeat attitude for some reason makes me think of why people like Kit Fisto in Attack of the Clones because he smiled in exactly one scene. Even in the novelization of Revenge of the Sith he's depicted as smiling even after he was killed. However, at least Ekdal in my opinion had reason to grin. I may even use his character in original work in the future. List of Appearances * Journal of Sally Acorn (First Appearance) * Deception * Heart of Chaos Category:Human Category:Earth Category:Character